Bad Deal
by FettsOnTop
Summary: Lando's got his own problems in Cloud City and Boba Fett is definitely one of them. Boba/Lando and past Han/Lando. Written for the Star Wars Rarepair Exchange.


"You have a visitor," E-3P0 announced.

Lando heard the droid enter his office, but he didn't look up from his data portal. It still didn't seem right that running an off-the-grid gas mine was so much _kriffing_ paperwork. "Who?"

"The bounty hunter."

The forms in front of him immediately became meaningless. "What? When?"

"He landed twenty standard minutes ago and demanded food. Administrator Lobot directed to me to put him in the south dining room. I warned him you were very busy." E-3P0 sounded disapproving, which Lando was prepared to blame on Lobot. His cybernetic administrator could influence a droid's programing the way humans could send signals through body language.

"I could use a break from this." Lando forced himself to rise slowly from his seat. He even stretched a little. Then he set off for the south dining room at a nice, unhurried pace.

He paused outside the door and took a deep breath before stepping into the sensor. Boba Fett was leaning back in his chair with his boots up on the table, eating roast squibblick skewers and masta with orangeberry sauce. His helmet rested on the table a few inches from his plate.

"Lando," he said, waving a half-eaten skewer at him. "Long time no see."

He hadn't seen or heard from the bounty hunter in nearly four cycles, but that was beginning to feel normal. Whatever this was, Fett's understanding clearly included coming and going as he pleased, with no contact in between and no indication that he would be back.

It only added to the surrealness of it. The first time it happened, he was almost convinced he'd hallucinated the whole encounter. The night before had been one of poor luck at cards and even worse luck at the bar trying to pick up some company and Lando drank just enough to convince himself that propositioning the man clad head-to-toe in Mandalorian armor was a _good_ idea.

When Fett disappeared, leaving no note or way to contact him, he shrugged it off. Hot sex, crazy guy, nice meeting you.

Then the sabacc tournament on Sullust happened, and Lando returned to his room one night to find that Fett had broken in and was waiting for him in the tub, surrounded by steaming hot water and completely batshit air of nonchalance.

The next morning he was gone again.

A few cycles later Lando was at the pod races on Malastare and spotted a familiar, armor-shaped silhouette in the crowd. He was on his way to the spaceport when Fett stepped out of the shadows and jerked his head towards his ship.

 _Slave I_ was a model of function over form, with the kind of reckless speed modification that Lando favored in his own ships. Fett answered all of his questions up to a point, specifically the point where his mouth was otherwise occupied.

Four cycles after that, he was having dinner on Malastare with some old friends from his smuggling days when a murmur of apprehension went through the room and Lando saw the eyes of his companions shift warily to some point behind his head.

A gloved hand fell on his shoulder. "Calrissian. A word."

None of his friends rose to his defense, which stung a little. He followed Fett down a service hall to a locked supply closet and later had to arrange his cape to hide some very inconvenient damp spots on his clothing.

When Lando returned to the table he found that his "friends" had not only left, but stuck him with the check. He talked a sympathetic waitress into comping him a few stiff drinks and then much later in the evening decided to find out if the comm line he'd finagled from a Tatooine contact really worked.

Fett didn't ask how Lando got his line. He listened patiently from the cockpit of his ship while Lando complained about his so-called friends.

"Do you want me to kill them?"

Lando laughed heartily, and then reconsidered. "You're... _joking_ about that, right?"

"Yes." The bounty hunter bared his teeth in a quick smile. "I don't work for free."

"Hey. Listen. I'm moving to Bespin next week. You should come visit me."

The other man had studied him for a moment in silence. "What's on Bespin?"

"Tibanna gas. I won a mining colony in a game."

Three-quarters of a cycle went by, and then one day Fett showed up at Cloud City with a housewarming gift. A very rare and expensive kind of oil that Lando had only mentioned once, and only in passing. The sheets on his bed were completely ruined, but the sacrifice was well worth it. Just the memory was enough to make him wish that Fett would eat a little faster.

"What did they give you to drink?" Lando asked, pressing a panel to activate the bar set into the wall of the dining room.

"Water."

"Water? That's no good. How about a Pfelter? You liked the one I made for you at the hotel."

"I asked for water." The bounty hunter dropped his feet to the floor and sat up. He was undeniably a handsome man, but the kind of handsome that snuck up on you with a cocked brow and sly grin. The kind of handsome that went with deft hands and muscular shoulders and skin that was almost unfairly gorgeous covered in a light sheen of oil.

"Well, I'm going to have a drink. I've been doing paperwork all day." He shook his head. "Man, am I glad to see you." As he turned back to the table, he caught Fett watching him with a kind of pleased expression, but the other man quickly dropped his eyes to his plate.

Lando sat down with his drink in a companionable silence. One of these days he was really going to have to work up the nerve to call him "Boba," even if was just in his own head.

"You've got sauce on your face," he informed the bounty hunter. Fett took a swipe at it, smearing the milky substance across his chin in a way that was practically obscene. "Perfect."

Fett held his gaze, a spark of heat in his dark eyes.

"Listen," Lando leaned forward and lowered his voice. "You might need some help cleaning that off. What do you say we go back my room and get in the shower?"

The slow curl of the other man's lips made his pulse pick up, but then just like that, those lips flattened out.

"I'm here on business," the bounty hunter said abruptly.

"Business? On Bespin?"

"With you."

His pulse stuttered. "Hey now. There's no price on my head."

"Not for _you_ ," Fett returned. "There is for Han Solo."

"Han!" Lando felt a sharp mix of relief and consternation. "I haven't seen Han in years. I have no idea where he is."

"I know where he is."

Lando set down his drink. "He's here? Han's here?"

"He will be." The bounty hunter paused to take a drink of his water. "He's in the system with a busted hyperdrive."

"On the _Falcon_? Damn it, I knew that stupid nerfherder was going to break something." Lando let his head fall back against the chair. "What makes you think he'll come here?"

"Because he needs help. And the two of you used to fuck."

Lando straightened, perplexed by the edge in Fett's voice. "That was a long time ago. Where did you even-"

"There's more. The Empire is coming."

Just like that, all of the air drained out of the room. "What?"

"Solo got mixed up with some rebels. One in particular. Pretty little farmboy by the name of Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader wants him, and wants him alive."

Lando hardly heard a word. "We're...not exactly up to Imperial code here."

"I know." The bounty hunter toyed with his empty glass. "You need to cut a deal with Vader. Set a trap for Solo and the rebels."

Lando lifted his own glass without a word and drained it, the alcohol burning a raw stripe down the back of his throat. "Really, Fett?" He said through gritted teeth. "I've been nothing but _very godsdamn nice_ to you, and this is how you repay me? By bringing the Empire to my door?"

" _Solo_ is the one bringing the Empire to your door," Fett growled in return. "I'm here to _warn_ you."

"No, you're here to collect!"

The bounty hunter leaned back in his seat, regarding Lando with cold eyes. "Do you like your mining colony?"

The crazy thing was, he did. In spite of the paperwork and the headaches and the responsibility. People recognized him in the hall and greeted him with respect. His suite was comfortable and tasteful and he'd poached some of the finest casino chefs to run the local eateries. Cloud City was, in a way, his home.

And it was not just _his_ home. Lando thought about all of the beings that called the city home, all of the people he was responsible for. Then he thought about what happened to Alderaan and his stomach twisted.

"All you have to do is let the _Millennium Falcon_ land," Fett said in the same even voice. "I'll take care of the rest."

Lando stood and returned to the bar, buying himself a few seconds. He couldn't do anything to stop this now. If he wanted to save his city, he had to cut a deal with Vader. But that didn't mean he was entirely helpless. He had the homebase advantage here, and he had Lobot. There had to be something he could do to help Han.

"That won't be necessary," he said, turning back to Fett. "If I'm in, I'm all in. I'll greet them when they land. Make them feel comfortable." He couldn't tell if the bounty hunter bought it or not. He was damn hard to read, even for someone familiar with his more...intimate expressions.

Fett pushed back from the table and stood. "As far as I know, Vader has no interest in the ship. Play this right, and you could get it back."

He forced himself to smile. "You're right. I hadn't thought of that."

Fett touched his cheek with a gloved hand, which then spread over his chest before dropping to his hip. His eyes were no longer cold. "We've got enough time for that shower."

Well. He didn't want the bounty hunter to get suspicious. Lando hadn't won an entire _kriffing_ mining colony by letting his nerves get the better of him.

Instead he let his fear become adrenaline, hot and bright like a flame, and Fett matched every rough caress and bruising kiss. They grappled under the water's spray until they were both panting and groaning, their water-slick bodies pressed together. The bounty hunter exhaled in a short curse as he looked down between them. " _Fierfek_. Did you take something?"

"I'm just...happy to see you."

Fett looked up at him with a smirk and licked the palm of his hand, sending a shudder of anticipation through Lando. But in a moment of heat and insanity, he boldly gripped the other man's shoulder. "No. Turn around."

The bounty hunter cocked an eyebrow at him, and then turned to face the shower wall. "Don't take all day. I won't break."

Lando had imagined this moment many times, but never with all these raw, jagged edges. He never imagined that his hands would be shaking, or that Fett would hiss in pain and then reach back to prevent Lando from pulling away.

Later, when he was sprawled out damp and boneless on his bed, he cursed the existence of a world outside of this suite, a city full of people who needed him and an ex-boyfriend with an Imperial bounty on his head. He rolled to his stomach and watched the bounty hunter as he moved around the room, gathering his armor.

He might be an amoral mercenary with a poor grasp of boundaries, but he was trying to do the right thing by warning Lando. Whatever this was, it had _some_ significance to him. Was he really willing to betray that trust for the sake of an old flame and some rebels he'd never met? What if he could convince the bounty hunter to help him foil Vader's plan?

"Boba," he said, his voice nearly a croak.

He turned to face Lando, and his eyes swept over his naked body with a faint smirk. "So that's it?" He questioned as he picked up his helmet. "I have to let you fuck me before you'll use my first name?"

"What? You never...look, I'm not sure how to say this…"

"Then don't say it." Their eyes met and held while Fett raised his helmet, preparing to lower it over his face. "Get dressed, Lando. Get your people ready. They'll be here soon."


End file.
